REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS. 55 



four years has been extensive. On the other hand, the high water of 

 that year undoubtedly caused many fish to become spring salmon which 

 would otherwise have run in the fall. Moreover, it is urged that a few 

 3^ears ago, when the number caught was about half as great as in 1880, 

 the amount of netting used was perhaps one eighth as much. With a 

 comparatively small outfit the canners caught half the fish; now, with nets 

 much larger and more numerous, they catch them nearly all, scarcely any 

 escaping during the fishing season (April 1st to August 1st). Whether 

 an actual reduction in the number of fish running can be proved or not, 

 there can be no question that the present rate of destruction of the 

 salmon will deplete the river before many years. A considerable num- 

 ber of Quinnat salmon run in August and September, and some strag- 

 glers even later; these are all which now keep up the supply of fish in 

 the river. The non-molestation of this fall run, therefore, does some- 

 thing to atone for the almost total destruction of the spring run. This, 

 however, is insufficient. A well-ordered salmon hatchery is the only 

 means by which the destruction of the salmon fisheries of the Columbia 

 €an be prevented." 



Since this was written the over-fishing has gone on steadily, the num- 

 ber of nets used is two or three times as great as it was in 1880, while 

 the catch has steadily fallen off". Seines are now used freely in the 

 Columbia, and other appliances by which great numbers of young sal- 

 mon, too small for use in the canneries, are destroyed, and the utter 

 disappearance of the salmon fishery of the Columbia is only a question 

 of a few years unless some vigorous means is taken to prevent over-fish- 

 ing, to prevent the destruction of young fish, and to replenish the losses 

 from all these causes. The same story of the destruction of the rich 

 fisheries of the Columbia will be told again in the Fraser River and in 

 the Yukon, and in every other stream where unlimited fishing is allowed, 

 and where no adequate effort is made to keep up the supply. Just as 

 the forests are wantonly and thoughtlessly destroyed by early settlers 

 and by lumbermen, just so the fisheries of this coast will go under the 

 hands of the canner. 



Of the American trout, the one which most nearly approaches the 

 European Salmo fario, is the Rainbow trout of California, Salmo irideus, 

 as it was named some forty years ago by Dr. W. P. Gibbons, of Alameda. 

 The name Rainbow trout is simply a translation of the Latin name 

 irideus given by Dr. Gibbons, and in default of any better common 

 name this name is likely to last. The distinctive characters of this 

 trout lie mainly in the large scales (about 135) in a lengthwise series, in 

 the comparatively small mouth and plump body. The color is bluish, 

 the sides silvery, usually with a red lateral band, and marked with 

 reddish and dusky blotches. The young, as in all trout, are crossed by 

 dark bands, which are, in every case, a mark of immaturity. In the 

 Rainbow trout the head, back, and upper fins are sprinkled with round 

 black spots, which are very variable in number. In specimens taken 

 in the sea, this species, like most other trout in similar conditions, is 

 bright silvery, and sometimes immaculate. This species is especially 

 characteristic of the waters of California. It abounds in every clear 

 brook from the Mexican line northward to Mount Shasta, and perhaps 

 farther. No specimens have been anywhere obtained to the eastward 

 of the Cascade Range or of the Sierra Nevada. It varies much in size, 

 specimens from Northern California often reaching a weight of 6 pounds. 



